Seven-day development loan turnaround for £11.6m build project

10 February 2022

West One Loans, one of the UK’s largest non-bank lenders, has turned around a development finance loan in just seven days.

This quick response ensured that the client’s purchase of land was ready to complete on the contractual date set with the vendor. The speed of this completion is extremely rare in the market and is testament to the West One team as well as a strong working relationship with the borrower.

The client, an experienced property developer, wanted to borrow just over £8m to purchase a plot of land to build 15 houses on the site which would have a final value of £11.6m. Speed, teamwork and experience were of the essence in this case as the client had less than two weeks to complete on the purchase of the land.

West One worked closely with a trusted valuer and monitoring surveyor, who immediately inspected the site and quickly produced the valuation report. West One’s underwriters worked over the weekend with the borrower and solicitor to make sure all documents were signed and ready for completion day.

Guy Murray, head of development finance at West One, said: “This was a case of working together and acting fast to get everything we needed from all the professionals involved. Due to our agile working, we were able to present the deal to our credit department and get a quick approval to complete the loan within seven days from application.

“When we are up against barriers such as time constraints in this instance, we will always go out of our way to find solutions. This was a prime example of teamwork both within West One and with our network of external partners.”